06/11/2010

It's been said that a car is basically a radio on wheels. For the vast majority of us, that's true. And with the average commute totaling nearly an hour each day (vastly more in some regions), radio advertising (done right) remains a powerful medium to reach your best potential customers. The key phrase here is, done right.

Radio advertising, to an even greater extent than TV, has to engage the audience with humor, drama, or truly impactful information. Otherwise, the listener can (and will) switch to the next preset on their dial. Following is an example of a humorous radio spot that I wrote a few years ago that really moved the needle for BP's Ice Guard brand. By making the spot entertaining, people not only didn't mind the message, they looked forward to it. Every time a flight ran, BP saw a dramatic blip in sales for it's more costly medium grade and premium grade fuels that contained Ice Guard.

The second spot uses a drama to pitch a next generation vehicle for the Armed Forces to replace the Hummer. You can tell it's done right because even though the spot was inteded for a very small group of people who would evaluate the vehicle for the Department of Defense, anyone tuning in could relate to it as well.